06.29.2023

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NEWS IN BRIEF

DC will not reopen rental assistance applications this year despite new funding

ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Staff Reporter

Contrary to earlier expectations, D.C.’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) won’t reopen for new applications this year even after an infusion of $33 million in new federal funding announced in the spring.

Instead, about half of the funds will be used to support existing applicants to ERAP, and the rest for Rapid Rehousing (RRH). The D.C. Council allocated the entire $33 million for ERAP, but the Department of Human Services (DHS), which oversees both programs, announced in a meeting earlier this month it would be splitting the money. The council’s budget office and others say this is counter to the council’s directive to spend the full $33 million on ERAP, and DHS may need council approval to spend part of the money elsewhere.

“The Council added $33.5 million for emergency rental assistance this fiscal year after the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) ran out of funds in May to give a lifeline for people facing eviction,” At-large Councilmember Robert White, who oversees DHS as chair of the Housing Committee, wrote in a statement. “If DHS would like to spend the funding the Council allocated for ERAP in a different way, they will need to either use contingency funds or submit a detailed reprogramming request for the Council’s review.”

Applications for ERAP, which provides up to five months of rental assistance to low-income people at risk of eviction, surged between October 2022 and March 2023 — the first six months of the fiscal year. DHS officials reported receiving 4,500 applications. At the time, the agency said the influx meant there was only enough left in ERAP’s $43 million budget to process applications the program had already received. DHS closed applications in March.

Advocates like the Fair Budget Coalition have long argued ERAP is underfunded, noting that every year the program runs out of funds months early. Throughout the pandemic, local eviction and housing attorneys argued that continued rental assistance was essential in keeping people in their homes.

When Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the federal government was sending D.C. an additional $33 million for rental assistance, left over from states that failed to use all their pandemic funding, many councilmembers hoped they’d found a way to reopen ERAP applications.

The council allocated the $33 million to ERAP during this year’s budget process, approving a revised budget for fiscal year 2023

on May 30. Both White and Council Budget Director Jen Budoff confirmed the council voted to put all $33 million toward ERAP for use as soon as DHS received the money. Some council offices only learned of DHS’s decision to split the money when Street Sense Media and The DC Line reached out for comment.

According to DHS’s current plan, about $15.5 million will be used to provide rental assistance to people who applied for ERAP before the program closed to new recipients in March. The rest of the $33.5 million will be used for RRH, a transitional housing program for people experiencing homelessness. While ERAP is widely seen as effective, some advocates and participants have said RRH doesn’t meet its goal of helping people find permanent housing.

The decision to split the funds was based on spending needs for the current year, according to DHS, which wrote in a statement that “[emergency rental assistance] funds are allocated for the rental assistance and housing stabilization services,” which includes RRH.

The agency has already allocated $6.7 million of the total for ERAP, with $8.7 million in “potential additional funds,” according to slides from DHS shared with Street Sense Media and The DC Line.

Because the council intended to set aside the entire $33 million for ERAP, White said that Bowser would need to submit a reprogramming request for the council to review and consider if DHS wants to spend some of the money on RRH.

While both ERAP and RRH fund homeless services and prevention, advocates for people experiencing housing instability generally put more faith in the preventive nature of ERAP — a key reason so many have called to increase funding for the program over the last few years. Some advocates and providers, meanwhile, question the efficacy of RRH, which is distributed after eviction or homelessness and which can leave people without options once the time-limited subsidy ends.

The mayor and council have been split over how to manage ERAP, with the mayor backing reductions to the program’s prepandemic funding levels. Bowser’s initial spending plan for fiscal year 2024 proposed reducing the ERAP budget to just $8 million, a move decried by advocates who predicted applications would close in under a month with that amount of funding. The council voted to restore the money to the current year’s level — $43 million.

This article was co-published with The DC Line.

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July 4

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DC receives funds to help homeless students.

Why are so many schools missing out?

Editor’s note

Over the next few weeks, Street Sense will be republishing stories that were recognized at this year’s Society of Professional Journalists’ Dateline Awards. This story, which was co-published with WAMU/DCist, was a finalist in the investigative journalism category for weekly newspapers and won in the radio category for investigative journalism. The series as a whole, “Unhoused and Undercounted,” produced by Street Sense Media, WAMU/DCist, Center for Public Integrity and The Seattle Times, won top prize in the online series category.

Originally published in November 2022, this story is still timely, as homelessness continues to affect a growing number of students and their families in D.C.

Will Schick, Editor-in-Chief

Street Sense Media, WAMU/DCist, the Center for Public Integrity and the Seattle Times found that school districts where over a fifth of students are homeless have not received federal funding for homeless students in recent years.

Towanda Chew has gone to extraordinary lengths to prioritize her children’s education. Like many parents navigating homelessness, keeping this promise remains a harrowing challenge. It requires that she first keep them safe and sheltered.

“I wish I could have walked on the stage,” said Chew, who didn’t graduate from high school, but got her GED. “And that’s why I’m so hard on them about finishing school, going through that … I stay on them about that,” said Chew. She is a single mom to five daughters and two sons, two of whom still live with her.

After experiencing homelessness on and off for three years, Chew and her children finally moved into a subsidized apartment along Martin Luther King Jr Ave. in Southeast D.C. in 2020.

But her housing troubles were far from over. Soon after moving in, her toilet began overflowing, creating a stagnant two-inch pool of water that left a feces smell in her apartment. Even after contacting her landlord, she said she could not get the necessary repairs or relocate

KAELA ROEDER AND AMANDA MICHELLE GOMEZ Street Sense Media and WAMU/DCist

Towanda Chew (right) and L’Tanya Holley (left), the school’s director of operations who’s coordinated services for unhoused families for over a decade, walk the grounds of Maya Angelou Public Charter School. Photo by Tyrone Turner // WAMU/DCist

to a vacant unit within the building. The stench lingered for months. Then in September, someone broke into her apartment and damaged the lock on her front door. Again, she said her landlord failed to adequately respond. But these could be the least of her problems — her rental subsidy is time limited, so she’ll have to search for a new home regardless.

For a year, Chew tried to move the family into another apartment but her case manager, she said, was no help. Instead, Chew turned to an unlikely source: the staff at her children’s high school. In the end, it was her children’s school — not her government assigned caseworker – who finally helped her family find temporary shelter at a hotel.

Chew is just one of countless parents across the country who turn to their children’s schools for help while navigating housing instability. Under the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, the U.S. Department of Education provides states, including D.C., with funding to support equal access to public education for homeless children and their families. Last academic year, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) counted over 6,600 homeless students. However, a joint DCist/WAMU and Street Sense Media investigation using data from the Center for Public Integrity found some local schools serving a significant number of homeless students have not been getting those federal dollars.

In fact, for both school years analyzed (2018-19 and 201920), school systems with the highest percentage of homeless students were not awarded McKinney-Vento dollars. While some opted out of applying for the funding, the third-party reviewers for D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) rejected applications from others. Among the schools that have missed out on this federal support is Maya Angelou Public Charter School, the place where Chew and her family received help navigating their housing issues.

Despite the staff’s best efforts to support the increasing number of homeless students enrolled there, the school only sometimes receives McKinney-Vento funding. And they are more fortunate than most.

What is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant?

Federal law requires state education agencies, D.C. included, to ensure each homeless child has “equal access” to “appropriate public education.” The law is a section under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which also authorizes the U.S. Department of Education to provide money to states to help achieve that mandate: the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant.

But it’s not nearly enough. U.S. Department of Education data shows that D.C. received $274,000 in 2018 and $289,760 in 2019. With somewhere between 7,700 and 7,100 homeless students in D.C. schools those years, which some advocates believe to be an undercount, that would be roughly $35 to $40 per student. Instead, the federal government requires the subgrants distributed by states to be competitive, and some D.C. schools with the highest rates of homelessness don’t receive help.

Between 2018 and 2020, there were eight local education agencies — all charter schools — where over a fifth of the student population was considered homeless for both school years, according to the federal data analyzed by DCist/WAMU, Street Sense Media and Center for Public Integrity. Only one of them received McKinney-Vento dollars those years: Maya Angelou Public Charter School, which has multiple campuses.

It also educates incarcerated young men at the city’s New

Beginnings center. The school received the subgrant in the academic year 2018-19 when 26% of the student population was counted as homeless, but not the following year when that number jumped to 31%.

Meanwhile, DCPS received the subgrant both years, with 6-7% of its student population counted as homeless. That still accounts for several thousand homeless students because DCPS is the largest local education agency — with 115 schools — and has nearly 50,000 students. Students in D.C. are split almost evenly between DCPS and the various public charter schools.

Fred Lewis, an OSSE spokesperson, said the local agency uses external reviewers to determine which school systems receive funding. “Grants are awarded based on ranking, which considers the strength of the LEA’s application, the number of students served and the amount of funds available,” Lewis said in an emailed statement.

Charter officials said applying for the opportunity can be challenging for smaller public school districts — and if they are lucky enough to get the money, how schools may spend those dollars is restricted. For instance, it generally can’t be used for food or housing.

Schools that don’t get the subgrant do what they can to support unhoused families. But some parents have described instances where their school community fell short of ensuring their kids have educational opportunities comparable to classmates with stable housing.

Historically, the McKinney-Vento grant was the only government funding routinely available to specifically support homeless students, which the law defines broadly as children who “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”

The only other recurring government support for local schools serving poor communities is the D.C. government’s funding for “at-risk” students, an even broader category that describes nearly half the students in D.C. As a temporary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Rescue Plan released unprecedented dollars to states for homeless students, which OSSE said enabled D.C. to provide federal funding to all 69 local education agencies (DCPS and 68 charter school systems).

The kinds of support homeless students need to learn

Maya Angelou Public Charter School is partially paying for Chew’s hotel through American Rescue Plan dollars, according to L’Tanya Holley, the school’s director of operations who’s coordinated services for unhoused families for over a decade.

But those dollars are temporary — Maya Angelou is spending down its second and final round of funding. And the school does not regularly get the McKinney-Vento subgrant.

“We went through hell and back, but they was here helping me,” said Chew of school staff, “I call Ms. Holley my angel. Because she’s been there.”

The pair met in 2017, around the time when Chew was looking for a school to enroll her son in before he turned 18. After getting “the run around” at other schools, the family landed at Maya Angelou. The school opted to arrange temporary shelter for Chew and her family after Holley visited the subsidized apartment. Chew was also able to lean on the school’s monthly grocery distribution for toilet paper and food, a program made possible by private donations.

“Kids cannot learn on an empty stomach and they can’t learn worrying about where they’re going to sleep or worrying about their mother or their parents,” said Holley.

But not every school is as nurturing as Maya Angelou — Spring Woodall experienced the headache of an unsupportive staff at Plummer Elementary, a DCPS school a mile away from Maya Angelou. Woodall enrolled her son in the 2021-22 school year as a pre-k student while they were living in a shelter across town.

Maya Angelou Public Charter School received the McKinney-Vento grant in the academic year 2018-2019 when 26% of the student population was counted as homeless, but not the following year when that number jumped to 31%. Photo by Tyrone Turner // WAMU/DCist

During that time, Woodall said despite repeatedly reaching out to her son’s principal and homeless student liaison, he was never given a free uniform or a backpack, even though McKinney-Vento dollars are intended to go toward purchasing items like these and DCPS is routinely awarded the subgrant. Woodall had to pay about $100 for uniforms out of pocket — money she didn’t have to spare.

“I just had to do it, you know?” Woodall said.

Nearly a month into the school year, Woodall was promised a “Kids Ride Free” card to get her son to and from school. But since her son was 4 years old, he was too young to qualify. Eventually, the school offered her a SmarTrip card, but the commute to and from the shelter was also an hour and a half each way.

“It’s like a slap in the face,” Woodall said. “Waking up early, giving them a bath, only to bring them into this system that barely cares about him. And this is the nation’s capital.” Woodall struggled to get her son to school and was almost in “the danger zone” of absences and truancies. This would have been preventable if the school offered Lyft or Uber credit for her to use, she said.

Woodall eventually sought legal help at the National Youth Law Center. Her lawyer suspected Plummer was in violation of the McKinney-Vento Act and filed a dispute on behalf of Woodall.

In emails obtained by WAMU/DCist and Street Sense Media, Woodall and her lawyer were told in response to the dispute that Plummer lacked the funds to provide transportation

resulted in little additional support for Woodall and her son. Woodall now lives in an apartment she moved into in February, with her son attending a different school.

Plummer Elementary did not respond to requests for further comment.

DCPS spokesperson Enrique Gutierrez says grants go to its central office to support all schools with homeless students. In testimony submitted to the Council last year, DCPS said McKinney-Vento dollars are budgeted for professional development, technology equipment like 150 Wi-Fi devices, school supplies and uniforms and transportation support. Gutierrez declined to comment on the situation at Plummer, only saying: “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that every displaced child and youth experiencing homelessness has the equal and necessary resources to academically succeed regardless of their current housing situation.”

Unpredictable and insufficient dollars for growing number of homeless students

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) distributes the McKinney-Vento funding as subgrants to schools with significant student populations navigating housing instability. They range between $600 and $86,000 and may go toward specialized personnel, supplemental instruction, referral services and school supplies. Yet several school districts that fall under this category and others OSSE prioritizes were not

students for 2018-19 — Monument Academy Public Charter School and Cedar Tree Academy Public Charter School –applied for McKinney-Vento dollars and requested $20,000 and $16,000 respectively, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. However the OSSE rejected their requests. (Both schools have applied for and received funding in subsequent years.)

Various charter officials have attributed their relatively high percentage of homeless students to their mission of serving vulnerable populations and their process of identifying homeless families who may need extra support during enrollment. Monument CEO, Dr. Jeffrey Grant, says the boarding school was founded to serve young people in the foster care system but has since expanded its pursuit to include other at-risk youth.

Meanwhile, some of the largest local education agencies received funding despite significantly lower rates of student homelessness, including $85,600 for DCPS and $38,000 for KIPP DC Public Charter School. But several smaller charters were also awarded McKinney-Vento funds during that time, suggesting headcount is not the determining factor.

Within the large DCPS system, some individual schools have higher percentages of homeless students. Anacostia High School considers 13% of its student population to be homeless. And the school’s homeless liaison, Jocelyn Coleman, believes that to be an undercount. She attributes undercounting to the stigma associated with homelessness.

“Nobody, especially a teenager, wants to be known as somebody who doesn’t have a family or the family has kicked

Maya Angelou Public Charter School has multiple campuses. It also educates incarcerated young men at the city’s New Beginnings center. Photo by Tyrone Turner // WAMU/DCist

Coleman also says the school doesn’t have enough money to support unhoused students, requiring staff to solicit donations, particularly anything extra like non-uniform clothing for the weekend. “We look at their needs, but they also have wants, too,” Coleman said.

A separate analysis from the Center for Public Integrity estimates that thousands of public school districts are undercounting homeless students, missing an estimated 300,000 students nationwide.

While OSSE data shows that the total number of students experiencing homelessness in D.C. has largely trended down since 2016, that’s not every school district’s experience. For example, the charter Rocketship Public Schools counted twice as many homeless students between 2016 and 2020, according to OSSE data.

The charter school had among the highest percentage of homeless students among local education agencies in academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20 but did not get McKinney-Vento dollars. Public records show Rocketship Public Schools has never applied for the funding since 2016. The charter did not respond to requests for comment.

In the years that Maya Angelou PCS didn’t get McKinneyVento dollars, Holley said her school has had to dip into the school’s budget for other expenses and fundraise more. She’s even asked her friends to chip in.

“It is very stressful because you got to steal from Peter to pay Paul,” said Holley. “I hate to have to tell a parent or a child ‘I’m sorry. I can’t.’ In my 15 years, I’ve gotten very creative.”

Why smaller schools have a harder time securing McKinney-Vento funding

The application process is thorough, asking school districts to provide a detailed budget and plan for tracking spending and evaluating its impact, according to Anna Scudiero, the development director at Monument Academy Public Charter School. “I, full-time, work on writing grants and things like that for the school. A lot of schools don’t have a dedicated person to sit around and complete applications,” she said.

Having recently taken on that role, Scudiero didn’t write the applications for the academic years Monument Academy’s requests for McKinney-Vento funding were rejected. But when she reviewed them afterward she said she thought they were “bare.”

“It just didn’t include the level of information that they were looking for. Even though it answered the questions,” she said. “I kind of think if you’re serving the student population that you should automatically get additional funding to support them instead of making it a competitive process.”

The principal of Roots Public Charter School, where over a quarter of students are homeless, said her staff has given up on applying for McKinney-Vento dollars. “I have been told by my homeless liaison that the reason we’re not interested is that it takes too much time and effort to apply when it’s already known that only the big schools ever get it,” said Bernida Thompson. “It’s a waste of time for small schools to put the energy and time into trying to compete.” The school has roughly 120 students.

The OSSE spokesperson contested that claim, saying “Although larger [local education agencies] may be perceived as having a slight advantage due to typically having larger numbers of students experiencing homelessness, LEAs with a smaller number of students served have received funding in the past as well.” For example, Lewis said a school with only eight reported homeless students received McKinney-Vento funds in 2015.

In the 2018-19 academic year, 17 local education agencies applied for new funding, and five were awarded, according to public records. For the 2019-20 school year, four local

the D.C. Council only one school district was awarded new funding that year “due to limited available funds.” (Three other schools that received money the previous year also received some continued funding for 2019-20.)

Schools with high rates of homeless students are not receiving subgrants at the state level because there’s simply not enough federal money to go around, according to Maria Foscarinis, the founder of the National Homelessness Law Center. She was also involved in the creation of the McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act — which she believes to be the last time Congress passed a sweeping bill on homelessness.

“The funding for this program has always been very limited,” Foscarinis said. “If this were actually an entitlement with these funds, then they would be awarded based on how many homeless kids there were. But it’s not, it’s a fixed amount of money and it has to be divided some way.”

And for over a decade starting in 1995, the District chose to not accept McKinney-Vento funds and thus was able to skirt federal law. The Department of Education’s only means of enforcing equal access to public education for homeless students is to withhold funding from a state.

“It was the only jurisdiction that did not accept the money and did not participate in the program,” Foscarinis said. By not accepting funds, the District remained in legal standing with a lawsuit filed by unhoused families and the National Homelessness Law Center, against the city for treating their students unfairly.

The District did not accept McKinney-Vento funds until 2006, when the D.C. Board of Education requested the superintendent reapply for funds, according to Foscarinis.

Schools

homelessness in late 2012 and early 2013. At the beginning of the 2013-14 school year, Harris enrolled her two sons at Kingsman Academy, a public charter school near Kingman Park that teaches sixth to 12th graders.

Kingsman has not received McKinney-Vento funds since at least 2016. But Harris said the school provided an abundance of resources for her family, including transportation, therapy, laundry services, a food pantry and laptops for her children to get their work done.

“It’s life-saving, actually,” Harris said. “It got us through. I was able to save money.”

When Harris was working as a bus driver and tour guide she would have to be at work by 6 a.m. and was unable to bring her children to school. But Kingsman provided Uber rides to school for her kids — like Woodall had hoped Plummer Elementary would do for her situation — and eventually modified the bus route so her kids could be picked up right in front of her apartment.

Back at Maya Angelou, L’Tanya Holley strategizes how she can help her school’s families without McKinney-Vento dollars. She’ll advise parents without internet access to go to the local Starbucks for free WiFi or guide students to shelters that have available beds. Acting as a case manager, Holley will even try and get parents a job so they can be self-sufficient.

Chew just landed herself a job with help from Holley. She is now working at a church in Northwest. Holley identified the opportunity and helped her prepare for the interview. Before that, Chew had been cutting people’s lawns for cash.

“I’ve got to do what I got to do because I got my daughter, and my other daughter, and I got a 13 and 17-year-old,” said Chew. “They can’t do it all,” she said of Maya Angelou staff, “because it’s for other people out there too, not just me.”

try and fill in the gaps without federal homeless dollars

This article is co-published with WAMU/DCist.

Towanda Chew (right) has relied on L’Tanya Holley (left) for help navigating housing. Photo by Tyrone Turner // WAMU/DCist

PHOTO ESSAY

2023 Capital

ANDREW ANDERSON Artist/Vendor

This year’s D.C. Capital Pride Parade was full of excitement LGBTQ+ voices, I found this year’s pride event special and white, young and old, men and women marched year’s parade theme was peace, love and revolution. have pride events like this one if it weren’t for Stonewall.

She’s making her way down the runway.

Photos by Street Sense artist/vendor Andrew Anderson

St. Margaret’s making everyone feel welcome at Capital Pride.

Capital Pride

excitement and hope. Even as some people make aggressive attempts to silence special with its colorful and bright themes. People of all backgrounds, Black marched their way with pride among other parade goers throughout the day. This revolution. It made me feel hopeful that Stonewall wasn’t for nothing. We would not Stonewall.

Modern Military Association of America marching with Capital Pride. Gold is the color of this year’s Capital Pride.

Capital Pride is all about networking and advocacy.

Fourth of July

BRIANNA BUTLER

Artist/Vendor

I celebrate the Fourth of July with honor and respect for our enslaved ancestor soldiers who were promised their freedom during the American War for Independence, after white Europeans were freed from the British monarchy.

Yet, like my ancestors, here we are, still not completely free. My heart is with them when I see how far we have come. I salute them and all our soldiers who fight to protect us all. Our journey has been rough but I believe we will achieve victory over all racial biases. Then all people will be free under God as they are supposed to be.

So let’s break bread together by lighting our grills and inviting other cultures to celebrate with us. These are happy times and a reminder not to go backward in our journey to full freedom and joy. We hold our flag with hope we will all be treated equally.

Fourth of July for the slaves

JACKIE TURNER

Artist/Vendor

When I think about history in America and the Fourth of July, I kind of smirk because the white people got their independence but the Blacks were still slaves. It is a life they literally forced on the slaves. My ancestors lived in shacks with dirt floors, worked in the fields sun up to sun down with one meal a day. They worked, worked and worked.

Then after Independence Day, the Fourth of July was supposedly a celebration for all. Now, we, the descendants of former slaves, also feel like this is our holiday too. To this day, we are happy on the Fourth of July and we wave the American flag. We understand what happened but we still love America.

Happy Fourth

MARS

Artist/Vendor

I learned about the Fourth of July when I was in the first or second grade. Our days began with the pledge of allegiance. My last experience learning about the Fourth of July was in history class sometime in high school.

I learned the Civil War was about states rights and freeing the slaves — partly because many were forced to fight against their will. July

Fourth is worth celebrating either for revolution or evolution. I celebrate the Fourth of July because it’s my birthday.

Fourth of July

MELODY BYRD

Artist/Vendor

I like the Fourth of July. It is a very interesting day. The day is always an exciting experience. July Fourth is Independence Day. In the past I participated in school picnics and had fun in the sun and shade.

African American Civil War Memorial on U Street Northwest. Photo by David // Flickr

How I got hurt

DOMINIQUE ANTHONY

Artist/Vendor

I got hurt.

But I know God has a plan for me. I practice my self care and am learning to Let go, let go.

Let God deal with the Rest. But I know there’s No greater love for Me, and as long as I keep My faith in the Lord it will be okay. I have been through a lot, So many things were Bad.

Like Tupac said, “I shed so many tears.” Know there is light After the storm, And I am still standing here.

I learned how to Take me and love Myself and I am learning How to love me. Take care of Me by loving Myself.

Things I learned to Practice self care.

Not your problem

DONTÉ TURNER

Artist/Vendor

I’ve made mistakes

I’ve made bad choices

I’ve taken wrong turns

I’ve done horrible things

I’ve said horrible things

I’ve hurt, disappointed and let people down

I’ve judged and accused

I’ve even misused and abused people, situations and myself

But at the end of the day no matter what you think

It’s not your problem

That’s between me and the Lord

Advocating as the voice for the homeless

CHON GOTTI

Artist/Vendor

I am the voice for the voiceless, A beacon of hope in a sea of darkness, I stand up for those who have no voice, And I fight for the homeless, their rights, my choice. In the DMV metropolitan area, The struggle is real, the pain is severe, But I won't back down, I'll keep fighting, Until every person gets a home, a place to be sighting. I hear the stories of those who live on the street, Their struggles and pain, their dreams incomplete, I hold their hands, listen to their cries, And I promise to fight till their voices rise. I advocate for the homeless, the forgotten, The ones who are shunned, pushed to the bottom, I fight for their dignity, their right to live, With the power of love, hope and the will to give. I am the voice for the voiceless, A champion of the homeless, a light in the darkness, I won't rest till every person has a home, And every heart feels the warmth of love, never to roam.

Wheelchair basketball to DC

ABEL PUTU

Artist/Vendor

Wheelchair basketball needs to be more popular. We need everyone to sign a petition to get wheelchair basketball tournaments at Capital One Arena. I am part of the team NRH Punishers at Medstar. I am very proud to be a part of the team. It needs to be more widely recognized.

The NRH Punishers have won many tournaments. I want everyone at the NBA and WNBA to follow our success. You can Google us. I want more people to get involved in wheelchair basketball.

My DC experience

AMINA WASHINGTON Artist/Vendor

I love to visit the National Mall and every park in the city of Washington, D.C. I am a big fan of the National Mall because I love my history. History is very important to me as I live right down the street from the Capitol building. The sights here are amazing. Many people come from all over to visit Washington, D.C. The love for this city is tremendous.

To be a part of this history is a dream. The history behind everything here is an awesome thing to learn, such as learning how the monuments are symbols. The Washington Monument is the one monument’s history I don’t know too much about. The Capitol building is where members of Congress meet. The White House is where

Working in America

JEMEL FLEMING Artist/Vendor

There are many companies in America. Most companies provide time off. A lot of schedules are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with weekends off. Most have vacation packages, sick leave,

When I love

KYM PARKER

Artist/Vendor

When people try to remember, “What brings me joy?

What makes me happy?”

It’s all the same

It’s love, unconditional

It’s respect, unconditional

It’s compassion

It’s love

To know where it comes from

It comes from her

She created all of this with love

She showed us love,

All her children

Pride

To the Black to the white

African, Latino

She said love, so I did

Pride, to be good

Proud to be bi, a lesbian and straight

She created all her children equally

Nobody unloved

From the moment we are born, she loves us

Love

Love yourself

Be true to yourself

Love

When we feel it

We respect ourselves

We show love to her and all her creations

So, love everyone because she made us all equally

The animals, plants, trees, us

Love

The reason I love

Better myself

DWAYNE BUTLER Artist/Vendor

I’m trying to better myself and I think that I should start with positive thinking and think about what I want to achieve. If I can believe it, I can achieve it. I’m going to learn about investing at school, so I can start investing in myself for a better life. I want more skills in the field of stocks. My trust in Yehova (God) is real and everything is going to be all right. My past is behind me now and I’m looking forward to my future. I’m going to move the way Yehova wants me to move. Taking one day at a time is great for me.

My name is Daniel Ball

DANIEL BALL

Artist/Vendor

Yes, the only thing that gets my attention is reading my Bible seven days a week. Okay, that’s not the only thing. Another thing that gets my attention is my girlfriend Sybil Taylor. My opinion about Street Sense is that we have the best newspaper in Washington, D.C.

Yes, I, Daniel Ball have one problem and that is I have been homeless for 12 years now.

So, Daniel, how long have you and Sybil been together? We’ve been together for many years. My birthday is Oct. 25, 1960. And that’s me — Daniel Payton Ball. So I, Daniel, want to say thank you, Will and Kaela and Willie.

This is my story

LEVESTER GREEN

Artist/Vendor

My story has many beginnings and endings to it. I guess we can call them chapters. I’ll share this one with you today about how I spent years living at home with my mother and brother’s kids. I mean I was so down and out, and disturbed that I would drink and smoke weed every day, just like the Tupac song, “I’d rather be ya N-*-*-*-* So we can get drunk and smoke weed all day.”

I think I was really just trying to sedate myself, numb myself to the pain and anger and calm the savage beast that raged in me. It relaxed me and helped me to sleep. It was just what I was into at that time. It was a thirst and I was trying to quench it! Life was being, and still is actually, being pretty unfair to me, but anyway. That’ll lead to another version of the story.

My thirst led me to hanging out and meeting other local drinkers already living on the street. I remember one guy named Red. I would see him often out by the Landover

Dodge Park Post Office. It was kind of my first impression of actually being out there like that, living on the street. My second encounter was with a couple living out in the local woods. I don’t know what it was that led me through the woods up to their campsite. I saw a slightly beaten path cutting up through the trees, and I was drawn to find out who or what was there.

I did that a lot too, taking shortcuts everywhere, just checking things out simply to be in the know. I was also going to the library daily too. It was my sliver of hope that kept me going. You would only get half an hour a day there on the internet, and maybe luck up on some extra time. But it definitely kept you coming back.

If I had applied that same approach of small increments to my studio work then I may have salvaged that career as well, but since I didn’t, I fell back into poetry. The written word portion of it. It was the least expensive and about

the speed I was moving at that time! That was when I was working with a company that went out of business soon after I self-published my first book of poems titled “4:20 in the Afternoon” with them. I only got about 25 copies for myself, before I could order more — the company went out of business suddenly! By that time I was made homeless myself and began floating around, trying to survive being on the streets 24/7, which oddly enough, used to be my address: 2407.

Well, that’s the basic framework of my story before I add in more details, and try to put and keep them in some type of order. But don’t worry. There’ll be more. In the meantime, you can read plenty of my poems on Street Sense Media’s website and catch me on YouTube and on poetry. com!

Across

1. Yellow or Chocolate pets

5. Shelley’s “___ Skylark” (2 wds.) (2,1)

8. Like some hard-to-field ground balls (3-3)

14. Not exactly a delicacy

15. Finale

16. Like good (though not great) bonds (2 wds.) (5,1)

17. Sobriquet of Depression-Era gangster/ bank robber George Nelson (2 wds.) (4,4)

19. Lace place on a tie-up shoe

20. Some sales opportunities for Siamese twins? (2 wds.) (3-3,5)

22. Law, in Lyon (Fr.)

23. Neither Rep. nor Dem. (abbr.)

24. Abbr. of politeness

25. Musical Yoko

26. Fine in three letters, slangily

29. Astronaut Grissom or film director, producer, photographer and musician Van

Sant

31. Lavish meal set out for a special occasion

34. The ‘T’ of PTA: Abbr.

36. Spiced tea of India

38. Like only 2 of Randy Johnson’s games, 1 for the Mariners and the other for the D’backs (2 wds.) (2,3)

41. Some imprisoned convicts serving life terms (2 wds.) (5-4,6)

44. Wet behind the ears, in Geezerspeak

45. Savior or sandwich

46. Not a copy (abbr.)

47. Pupils take part in it

49. ____ Jima (W.W. II battle site)

51. “C’___ la vie!”

52. “___ du lieber!”

54. Birth announcement abbr.

56. Bean counter, for short (abbr./initialism)

58. Tic-___-toe

59. Poker lingo for a player prone to bluff using a particular weak hand (2 wds.) (4,7)

64. Reverberated

66. “Psycho,” “Halloween,” and “Saw,” in film lingo

67. 1887 Verdi opera based on a Shakespeare play’s title character

68. ____ Angeles, CA

69. Patron saint of Norway

70. Phrase often employed in referring to any time of day or night that could also be reported using a ____:55 format (2 wds.) (4,2)

71. “That’s affirmative!”

72. Bit of smoke

Down

1. Pride parade letters before Q

2. “There oughta be ____” (2 wds.) (1,3)

3. Stereotypical name for a clown

4. Genre, in brief, for Bond films and the “Mission Impossible” franchise

5. Certain salty water conduit (2 wds.) (4,4) (CRUDE TAT anagram)

6. Like most recorded music before ipods and iphones (2 wds.) (2,2)

7. Take ___ breath (2 wds.) (1,4)

8. End of a threat (2 wds.) (2,4)

9. Some floor votes

10. Summer in France

11. Words of greeting (5,5)

12. Ancient Greek theater

13. Place for aluminum furniture and assembling

friends

18. ___ shui (Chinese practice related to spatial arrangement and orientation)

21. Tragic poet Vittorio

26. Many a Justice Dept. employee (abbr.)

27. Uno + siete (Sp.)

28. Cold War Soviet Premier Nikita

30. Small Chinese breed whose name lterally means “lion dog” (2 wds.) (4,3)

32. “I’ll take that as ___” (2 wds.) (1,2)

33. Nothing special (2 wds.) (2,2)

35. Italian artist Guido (ERIN anagram)

37. Initials in some black church names (abbr./ initialism)

39. Colored eye part

40. USAF noncom (abbr.)

42. An emu’s weighs from 1 to 1-1/2 lbs.

43. Crude (2 wds.) (3,5) (SOW CALLS anagram)

48 Jinx

50. Major musical composition

52. Partook in eating (2 wds.) (3,2)

53. Desert bloomers (Lat. pl. ending)

55. Texter’s “4 realz” variation (abbr.)

57. Put on ___ (be flashy) (2 wds.) (1,4)

59. Experienced by touching

60. Threatened Arctic Ocean sight

61. Prefix with pad

62. Timeline divisions

63. Invitation request (abbr./Fr. initialism)

65. Cry uttered after un gran gol de fútbol that’s heard in “Toledo, Spain”

*This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Wa. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.

COMMUNITY SERVICES

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Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Charlie’s Place // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc)

219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Road SE

2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

Samaritan Ministry

202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org

- Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500

- Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699

1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

Retail Sales Associate

Best Buy // 3100 14th St NW

Part-time

Assist customers with purchases, recommend products, stock shelves and maintain clean floor.

Requirements: N/A

Link: tinyurl.com/best-buy-rsa

Cashier/Food Service Worker

Sodexo // Rayburn House Office Building, Independence Ave SW

Part-time

Operate cashier, prepare and serve food, stock supplies and keep stations clean.

Requirements: N/A

Link: tinyurl.com/sodexo-cfsw

Prep Cook

Wegmans // 41 Ridge Sq. NW

Full-time

Prepare ingredients and assemble meals on time.

Requirements: N/A

Link: https://tinyurl.com/wegmans-cook

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

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